Chapter 38: The Crypt of the Queen in Silver, Part 1

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About the Saga

Timeframe

Cast of Characters

Along for the journey, but not active in this story:

  • Baerdis (Lance), a dwarf cleric of Clangeddin Silverbeard in search of lost memories.
  • Finn Underbow (Jim), a halfling ranger

Notable Quotes

  • None

What Has Come Before

Concerned about the fate of his mentor, Gremorly, Daragon and his companions set out to learn as much as they could about the Circle of Blue and the sage's captor, Xalbadtor Mathis.

They learned that Gremorly was being held in a tower on Xalbadtor's estate, and that it was well protected by abjuration magic. They also learned that Xal's patience with scholarly Gremorly was reaching an end because the sage was unable to tell him anything profitable. They also learned that Xalbadtor, although a powerful wizard and the leader of the Circle of Blue, was living a life style that was breaking his budget. He needed an influx of money ... and fast.

Darogan arranged a meeting with Xalbadtor at the The Crowned Caravel and learned that Xal would agree to ransom the scholar for 25,000 gp. Shocked by the price, Darogan nonetheless agreed. He was forearmed with several ways of raising those funds, thanks to reseach gleaned from **Hegil Tfinnan**. In his quest to find the lost Tomb of Telan, Hegil -- now a ghost haunting his own adventuring journal -- identified a number of other ruins, tombs, and crypts that could be hold impressive riches:

Given that the Scorpion Prince's tomb held an ancient evil that shouldn't be unleashed, and the Apature of Zalshox was ruled by a beholder outcast from the City of Eyes, the heroes wisely settled on investigating the Crypt of the Queen in Silver.

The Saga

Readying 21, CY 516

On Readying 21 the heroes laid in supplies for their trip south and bought horses to pull their cart.

Readying 22, CY 516

The next day the heroes set out for the Crypt of the Queen in Silver, following an old trade road that ran through the southern hills. As they travelled, a thunderstorm rumbled in from the east around mid-day. They took cover from the heavy rain in a hilly alcove, erecting a canopy using the sail cloth they purchased in Blue. The soaking rain continued throughout the day and into the evening. Realizing that traveling overland in the storm would be counterproductive, the heroes decided to rest for the night.

Readying 23, CY 516

Ogre Fight

In the early morning, Darogan Ferventfire spotted a group of ogres passing near their camp. He moved to investigate, but stepped on a branch. The snapping sound drew the attention of the ogres. The creatures immediately turned and stormed the camp.

A fight ensued. Rinnadar Tinugelydh shot arrows at the lead ogre while Zaphrym peppered the others with magical arrows made of flame. The ogres continued their advance, one of them savagely hitting Zaph. The wild mage fell back, hitting one of the features with a burning ray of power.

Burgell, fearing the advancing ogres, dropped a fireball on the ogres that fried the creatures ... and incinerated the party's canopy. Rinn and Daragon managed to kill three of the ogres. The survivors charged Burgell, who fell back even further and then hit them with another fireball. The creatures died in the flames.

Rumblwing

The storm finally passed, but its retreat revealed a different kind of thunder to the west. Zaph scans the horizon and catches a glimpse of the roc Rumblewing hunting in the trailing clouds. They hunkered down and wait for the massive avian to pass.

Hours later, when they did leave, they decided to leave the wagon back at their camp. Their carefully hugged the hills, trying to avoid the hunting roc. They failed -- the creature spotted them and moved to attack. Fortunately Zaphrym was able to turn the entire party invisible. The confused roc continued on his way.

Into the Crypt

As night approached, the heroes found the path that led to the Crypt of the Queen in Silver. They enter the tomb and find a room dominated by a sarcophagi. It's lid is thrown off, and there are signs that something inside had forced its way out. Tapestries, some of them torn, hung on the walls. They depicted different scenes of light and death loosely related to the Flan deities of Beory and Nerull. They found a secret door in the chamber that led to a chamber with two huge statues: a skeletal one which clearly represented Nerull and another female statue -- badly defaced -- that seemed to represent Beory.

They ventured further into the crypt and found a corridor stretching to the east and west. They chose to go west and found another coffin on a raised platform opposite a statue of a queenly figure. They were surprised when an undead humanoid in black clothing erupted from behind the coffin and unleashed a barrage of magic. They held off the creature and ultimately defeated it.

With the "Black Prince" defeated, Burgell explored the statue further. He found a secret panel and pressed the button it hid. A door slid open, revealing a chamber filled with low shelves, desks ... and three undead hounds with eyes of purple flame. Most of the party, save for the paladin Darogan, found themselves overwhelmed with terror. They were forced to fall back from the beasts even as Darogan stood their ground.

The fight that followed was a desperate one. The "lich hounds" would trip their opponents and then immediately try to rip out their intestines. The heroes were finally able to overcome their fear and defeat the creatures, but it was a close thing.


Experience

Player Characters

Non-player Characters

  • None

Treasure

  • None

Resources

  • This adventure was adopted from "The Warlock's Crypt" by Marc Radle, one of the adventures in Kobold's Press' Book of Lairs.
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